Consultation on Improving Mental Health Services

Question: Discuss about the Consultation on Improving Mental Health Services. Answer: Introduction The report is on the incidence of the high rate of suicide among old age group in Australia. It discusses the factors that contribute to suicide tendency among the adult population and gives a brief explanation regarding the high rate of suicide. It describes one strategy that has been adopted by the Australian government to address this issue and reduce the incidence of suicide among elderly. The cause may be multi-factorial such as depression, loneliness and withdrawal from society among the older population. This report tries to analyze and identify situations that lead to suicide in people above 75 years in Australia. The Australian suicide statistics of 2016 reveals highest suicide rate among people above 75 years of age group. It has become a huge health concern for the country. In 2014, suicide accounted for 2% of all death caused in the country that year. It was also found that rate of suicide was more among males than in females. The number of males and females dying due to suicide in Australia was 75% and 25 % respectively in the year 2014. The rate was also found to be higher among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with suicide being the fifth leading cause of death among them. Suicide is found in all age group, but the peak age group for suicide is 75+ in Australia (Mindframe, 2016). Contributing factors leading to suicide in Australia Seeing the statistics on suicide rate among Australian population, there is a need to identify what factors lead to suicide in older people. The suicidal tendency may be due to a variety of information problems in an individuals life like childhood adversity, the experience of traumatic events in life, the problem in the relationship, employment and use of alcohol and drugs by a person. All these problems have an adverse impact on a person, and they may suffer from depression and loneliness (Holmes et al., 2012). There are social isolation and lack of social support in these individuals. The contributing factors in old age suicide may include the following: Lack of physical independency due to aging Economic dependency on others due to retirement from work due to age or physical condition. Mental health problems like dementia and Alzheimers in old people. Depression, hopelessness and grief due to illness and declining health. Alcoholism (Cleary et al., 2014). As the proportion of older Australian is increasing, at the same time incidence of mental illness and dementia is also increasing. These disorders may vary regarding duration and stability in an individual. It interferes with older people's cognitive, social and emotional abilities. Good mental health is dependent on psychological, biological and socio-cultural factors (Simelane, 2015). Certain situations in older people like losing the ability to live independently, the experience of bereavement due to loss of life partner, drop or complete lack of income may lead to mental illness (Usher et al., 2013). Accumulation of all these factors leads to loneliness, increases physiological distress and tendency to commit suicide among older people. According to World Health Organization (WHO), accumulation of several risk factors from systemic, societal, community, relationship and physical issues increases individual vulnerability to suicidal behaviour (Hawton, K., i Comabella, C. C., Haw, C., Saunders, K. (2013).. Another reason leading to suicide is that society's or family member's attitude towards older people is not good, and they may regard them as invaluable due to their lack of contribution to the economy. Moreover, some people feel them more as a burden due to many kinds of frailty and diseases they may have due aging. When society disregards them and does not consider them as a valuable member of the society, this factor also demoralized older peoples and had an impact on suicidal mobility (Handley et al., 2014). There is also a strong correlation between major depression and suicide. Older people lack activity in life, an increase in frailty due to aging, diagnosis of some diseases causes that community. People going through this phase experience avoidant and escape behaviours. It ultimately leads to aggression, irritation, violence and finally suicide (Sachs-Ericsson et al., 2014). Loneliness due to relationship breakdown, loss of life partner, the absence of family members due to personal commitments is the reason for suicidal behaviours in older adults (Singh, 2015). Alcoholism and drug use is also a factor leading to suicide in the elderly population because alcohol triggers impulsive and violence behaviour and aggregates feeling of hopelessness, grief, and depression. It impairs people judgment level and problems solving skills (Morin et al., 2013). Lack of A coordinated has involved association with suicidal behaviour. Alcohol abuse in older peoples is warning signs of suicide. Indigenous heritage also has strong relation link with suicide in Australia. Compared to non-indigenous populations, the rate of suicide is far higher in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Australia (Ridani et al., 2015). The suicide rate is high due to the marginalization of the indigenous population, more incidence of chronic disease among them and lack of access to proper health care facility. Increases rate of chronic disease in the indigenous population is the reason why more people are depressed and have suicidal tendencies. On analysis of the cause of suicide in Australia, it is seen that majority of suicide about mental by social environment followed by sudden changes in an about life. These changes have an enormous impact on them, and it impairs their capability to regulate desires and aspirations. Suicide cause may also be related to weakened social purpose and activity in life. Apart from this morbidity associated with chronic illness drive people to commit su icide (Cheung et al., 2014). Strategy for suicide prevention in Australia Preventing suicide and suicidal behaviour is a key priority for Australian Government. The incidence of suicide has a great impact on the lives of family members who are left behind. As suicide is a complex phenomenon, there is no single cause and no single solution for suicide. But suicide is preventable, and the Australian government has worked to reduce the rate of suicide in Australia. They have adopted several strategies and policies to address the issue. One such strategy adopted by the Australian Government to prevent suicide is the Western Australian Suicide Prevention Strategy (Mental health, 2016). It outlines the government and committees commitment to reduce suicide and prevent self-harm. It was developed after analysis of 20 years data on the incidence of suicide in Australia. This strategy is aligned with National Prevention Strategy called the Living is for Everyone (LIFE). In fact, Australia was the first country to develop a national strategic approach to suicide pre vention. The LIFE framework has provided governance structure and guided Western Australia in their initiative for future (Robinson Pirkis, 2014). The six area of activity according to Life framework are as follows: Improving understanding of suicide prevention- It involved researching on suicide and prevention to understand the warnings signs and risk factors for suicide, developing knowledge regarding community resilience for prevention of suicide and identifying the most effective intervention for the Aboriginal community (Song et al., 2014). Developing individual resilience and capacity for self-help- The Australian government achieved this through the promotion of programs to support life skills that enhance individual resilience level. They also adopted and promoted mental health and well-being program for older people. They fostered an environment where expression of anxiety and grief was not met with stigmatization (Wright, 2013). Improving community strength in relation to suicide prevention- In this area, they worked to raise awareness regarding characteristics required of resilient community. They developed skill of families and social groups to respond quickly to indicators of suicidal behaviour in people and encouraged older adults too talk more frequently about mental health problems and seek help. The Australian government also worked to support local agencies and groups regarding reducing individual risk and strengthened protective factors to respond to the situation (Cwik et al., 2014). Coordinated approach to suicide prevention- It involve coordinating suicide prevention activities across local and state government and between non-government and private sectors. They developed tools for information sharing and implemented a response model for those communities which has increased the incidence of suicide. As illness is also a contributing factor for suicide, it developed a mechanism to improve health service (Robinson Pirkis, 2014). Targeted suicide prevention- It involved specific action plans for isolated aboriginal community of Australia and development of an innovative plan for these population as they do not have access to health service (Silburn et al., 2014). Improving standards and quality in suicide prevention- Under this activity, the government developed and promoted standards for suicide prevention and implemented systematic evaluation models. For this purpose they gave adequate skills and training to worker in suicide prevention (Krysinska et al., 2015). Conclusion The report covered the major health concern of Australia that is the incidence of high suicide rate among the older age group of Australia. This report provided informations regarding prevalence of suicide in Australian citizens and analyzed the factors that lead risk of suicide and suicidal behaviour. The identification of cause related to suicide gave idea about level of intervention required to improved situation. Finally, analysis of one strategy taken by the Australian Government helped in getting an idea about what the government has so far done to prevent the risk of suicide in the community. Reference Cheung, Y. T. D., Spittal, M. J., Williamson, M. K., Tung, S. J., Pirkis, J. (2014). Predictors of suicides occurring within suicide clusters in Australia, 20042008.Social Science Medicine,118, 135-142. Cleary, M., Jackson, D., Hungerford, C. L. (2014). Mental health nursing in Australia: resilience as a means of sustaining the specialty.Issues in mental health nursing,35(1), 33-40. Cwik, M. F., Barlow, A., Goklish, N., Larzelere-Hinton, F., Tingey, L., Craig, M., ... Walkup, J. (2014). Selected Research Paper of the Week.American Journal of Public Health,104, e19-e23. Handley, T. E., Hiles, S. A., Inder, K. J., Kay-Lambkin, F. J., Kelly, B. J., Lewin, T. J., ... Attia, J. R. (2014). Predictors of suicidal ideation in older people: A decision tree analysis.The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry,22(11), 1325-1335. Hawton, K., i Comabella, C. C., Haw, C., Saunders, K. (2013). Risk factors for suicide in individuals with depression: a systematic review.Journal of affective disorders,147(1), 17-28. Holmes, A., Christelis, N., Arnold, C. (2012). Depression and chronic pain.Medical Journal of Australia,10, 17. Krysinska, K., Batterham, P. J., Tye, M., Shand, F., Calear, A. L., Cockayne, N., Christensen, H. (2015). Best strategies for reducing the suicide rate in Australia.Australian and New Zealand journal of psychiatry, 0004867415620024. Mental health. (2016).Mentalhealth.wa.gov.au. Retrieved 12 August 2016, from https://www.mentalhealth.wa.gov.au/Libraries/pdf_docs/WA_Suicide_Prevention_Strategy.sflb.ashx Mindframe. (2016).Mindframe-media.info. Retrieved 11 August 2016, from https://www.mindframe-media.info/for-media/reporting-suicide/facts-and-stats Morin, J., Wiktorsson, S., Marlow, T., Olesen, P. J., Skoog, I., Waern, M. (2013). Alcohol use disorder in elderly suicide attempters: a comparison study.The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry,21(2), 196-203. Ridani, R., Shand, F. L., Christensen, H., McKay, K., Tighe, J., Burns, J., Hunter, E. (2015). Suicide prevention in Australian Aboriginal communities: a review of past and present programs.Suicide and life-threatening behavior,45(1), 111-140. Robinson, J., Pirkis, J. (2014). Research priorities in suicide prevention: an examination of Australian-based research 200711.Australian health review,38(1), 18-24. Robinson, J., Pirkis, J. (2014). Research priorities in suicide prevention: an examination of Australian-based research 200711.Australian health review,38(1), 18-24. Sachs-Ericsson, N., Hames, J. L., Joiner, T. E., Corsentino, E., Rushing, N. C., Palmer, E., ... Steffens, D. C. (2014). Differences between suicide attempters and nonattempters in depressed older patients: depression severity, white-matter lesions, and cognitive functioning.The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry,22(1), 75-85. Silburn, S., Robinson, G., Leckning, B., Henry, D., Cox, A., Kickett, D. (2014). Preventing suicide among aboriginal Australians.Working Together. Canberra: Government of Australia. Simelane, G. L. (2015).Lived experiences of student nurses caring for intellectually disabled people in a public psychiatric institution(Doctoral dissertation). Singh, S. D. (2015). Loneliness, depression and sociability in old age.The International Journal of Indian Psychology, Volume 2, Issue 2, No. 2, 73. Song, I. H., Kwon, S. W., Kim, J. S., You, J. W., Park, J. H., Kim, L., ... An, S. (2014). Cross-National Comparison of Public Awareness Campaigns for Suicide Prevention: Analysis of Campaign Strsategies and Contents of New Zealand, USA, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, and Korea.The Journal of the Korea Contents Association,14(7), 253-270. Usher, K., Park, T., Foster, K., Buettner, P. (2013). A randomized controlled trial undertaken to test a nurseà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ led weight management and exercise intervention designed for people with serious mental illness who take second generation antipsychotics.Journal of advanced nursing,69(7), 1539-1548. Wright, P. (2013). Submission to the Consultation on Improving Mental Health Services in Country Australia.

Essay about Othello, By William Shakespeare Essay Example For Students

Essay about Othello, By William Shakespeare Essay In Shakespeare s play Othello, hostile jealousy warps reality for Othello which leads to the demise of his marriage as well as himself. Many critics have analyzed the topic of jealousy, most of them coming to the conclusion that Othello showed signs of underlying insecurities and possessiveness which lead to jealousy however; Nordland pointed out that jealousy was not caused by pre-existing insecurities and scars from past traumatic experiences but it created doubts and issues of self esteem in Othello after he is gripped by delusional jealousy, courtesy of Iago. To properly explain Othello s metamorphosis of a honorable man into the green-eyed monster (3. 3. 196), one must define jealousy for the irritant that it is. Jealousy is a multi-dimensional emotional state where one s relationship, whether it be with a friend or spouse, is threatened by another person or rival (Buss 155). In Othello, Iago seeks ruin Othello by spinning false, unrestrained tales of infidelity between Cassio and Desdemona. With false knowledge of infidelity, Othello hurls into a detrimental episode of jealousy and turns on his wife resulting in spousal homicide. Jealousy, described by Ekman and Plutchik s research, is composed of eight primary emotions- anger, fear, sadness, disgust, surprise, anticipation, trust, and joy(Buss 157). In Othello s case, one can assume that the emotions included in his fit of jealousy were anger, disgust, and distrust. Along with jealousy are negative repercussions that lead to damaged relationships. In a section of Buss essay, the topic of jealousy leading to homicide outlines how one partner isolates the other and resorts to violence which can range from minor slaps to brutal beatings (Buss 160), a instance o. .saying I fetch my life and being/ From men of royal siege (1. 2. 24-25) which renounces any possibility that Othello felt inferior to anyone within the Venetian society. The final, certifiable root of jealousy that can be applied to Othello is that he experienced a mental breakdown. Once successfully infected by jealousy, Othello s outlook on his marriage, himself, and the people he once trusted completely changed. In a study, presumably conducted by Cipriani, people who have been tainted by delusional jealousy had tendencies to over analyze small details, such as moved items within their homes, taking pieces of conversation out of context or stray events and assume that those things are evidence that their spouse is cheating (Cipriani 468). Jealousy of this degree can foster an array of neurological disorders like dementia, brain trauma, and Parkinson s disease

Medea Summary Essays - Women And Death, Argonauts, Operas, Medea

Medea: Summary Title of Work: Medea Country/Culture: Greek Literary Period: Classical Type of Literature (genre): Drama/Tragedy Author: Euripides Authorial information: Euripides was born in 484 BC and took up drama at the young age of 25. At most drama competitions, however his plays came in last place until he was about 45 or 50 years old. In his entire life, he wrote 92 plays of which only five received first place awards at competition. . Euripides despised women. He had been married twice to unfaithful women and had three sons. This hate of women is shown in his work of Medea. Author's unique style: Euripides' characterization of women is considered unique in the play Medea because the tragic Hero/ine - in this case Jason and Medea in each one's own sense - is done over by a woman after cheating on her with the princess of the King of Corinth. He places emphasis on human emotions and individual psychology in order to help the reader produce a clear picture of the characters. Medea features strong dramatic situations and a stirring part for the heroine, whose attitude of feminine pride and tradition is still popular in today's world. Setting: The entire play takes place on the island of Corinth in present day Greece. Individual places such as Medea/Jason's home, and the palace of the king and princess are also spoken of and used in the play. It has an ancient Greek setting as well. Theme: "What goes around comes around." The theme of revenge in the sense of Medea's strong desire to seek revenge on Jason. Another possible theme of Medea may be that at times a punishment of revenge should justify the crime - no matter how severe. Only a person in such a situation (and greater beings) may know what to action to take in this position. Characters: Medea - The strong willed woman who would do anything for her husband is victimized by him and turns deadly. After going to a great extent to help Jason - killing people to be with him and married to him - he turns around and marries a younger princess and leaves Medea and their two children with nothing. This deeply angers Medea - her tragic flaw appears to be an over excessive sense of revenge - who goes absolutely berserk and kills the princess and her children to get back at Jason for leaving her. She is very decisive and intelligent and had thought through her actions against Jason before carrying them out. Jason - The Husband of Medea who leaves her for another woman - the King of Corinth's daughter - claiming it would be better for both Medea and their children if he "got in good with the king". Jason obviously is not caring about his wife who actually killed to be with him. He does however still love his children. His flaw of apathy or the fact that he is not perseverant causes his downfall when Medea has his wife (the princess) murdered as well as his children. This causes Jason to be extremely disturbed - but it is deserved. King Aegeus - The present King of Athens who is very sympathetic. He is friends with Medea and understands her problem. He tells her that she may come to Athens and seek refuge if she pleases. He has no children and asks if she will "provide him with some". In this sense, he is a jolly fellow who assists friends in time of need. He also provides Medea with a place to go and be protected after she goes on her killing rampage. Nurse - The Nurse plays a somewhat minor role and yet influences the story of Medea. She is employed by Medea to look after the children but the Nurse also gossips and provides advice and assistance to Medea. She provides the audience with background information on the play and puts pieces together of the "big picture." The Nurse begs Medea to not do anything rash because of Jason but says that she knows Medea will so that foreshadows the though of tragedy in the play. She also sympathizes Medea but as soon as Medea is not looking, the Nurse criticizes her as being somewhat over reactive. King Creon - King Creon finds disfavor on Medea for many reasons. Most of all he believes she may decide to kill his daughter out of spite. Quotes: ? "O God, do you hear it, this persecution, these my sufferings from this hateful woman, this monster, murderess of children? Still what I can do that I will do: I will lament and cry upon heaven, calling the